PlanScope Blog – Page 283
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 283
9095 articlesFitting out a gym on an upper floor: noise and vibration
A gym is Class E(d), so the use change is often free. The hard part is structure-borne impact noise from free weights, which BS 4142 does not measure.
Protected vistas and the London View Management Framework
London protects designated views with mapped geometry rather than policy wording. If your site sits in an assessment area, the framework sets your upper floors before design begins.
A cover letter structure for a planning submission
The validation officer reads it first and the case officer second. A two-page letter with a proper document schedule saves days on the determination clock.
The viewpoint assessment section of a townscape appraisal
The matrix is an aid to reasoning, not a calculator. A viewpoint section that publishes its component ratings and explains each judgement is far harder to dislodge at appeal.
Industrial heritage: converting mills and warehouses
A scheme that keeps the elevations and strips out the cast iron columns can cause more harm than one that alters the facade. Structure and process evidence carry the significance.
Tracking a planning application on the public register
Article 40 of the Development Management Procedure Order sets out what every council must keep on its planning register. Knowing that tells you what to ask for when the website falls short.
Dropped kerbs and vehicle crossover applications
The kerb needs a section 184 vehicle crossing licence. The access and the driveway may also need planning permission, depending on road classification and how the surface drains.
Lighting design that protects bats and invertebrates
Lighting a roost access point can amount to disturbance of a protected species whatever the ground-level lux. The evidence councils want is vertical illuminance at the habitat features.
A day nursery in a residential street: the noise question
A nursery in a house needs full permission, and the decision turns on outdoor play noise. BS 4142 does not apply to sound from people, so the assessment has to be constructed differently.
Which applications are referable to the Mayor of London
Referral is automatic on the facts set out in the Mayor of London Order 2008. The borough still decides, but it cannot issue a decision without going through the Mayor twice.
A neighbour consultation record template for applicants
A two-page record of who you contacted, what they said and what you changed gives the case officer something to quote. It also shows where voluntary engagement is the wrong move.
The daylight results section of a BRE 209 assessment
BRE 209 gives guidelines, not standards. What decides an appeal is which rooms were assessed, whether daylight distribution was tested, and how honestly the failures are reported.
Construction traffic routing, wheel washing and hours
Highway authorities condition construction traffic rather than refusing over it. The route evidence, the wheel wash detail and the pre-construction survey are what get the condition discharged first time.
Converting historic farm buildings sensitively
The significance of a farmstead usually lies in the plan form and the relationship between ranges, not in one barn. That changes how openings, yards and subdivision are judged.
Mayoral CIL: bands, rates and when it becomes payable
The Mayor charges a levy on new floorspace across all of Greater London, on top of the borough charge. The banding, the six-month lawful use deduction and the commencement notice decide what you actually pay.
How long an ecology survey stays valid for planning
Habitat data older than about two years and species data older than about 18 months will be queried. An update walkover by the original ecologist is usually the proportionate answer.
Putting a dental practice into a vacant shop unit
Shop and medical uses both sit in Class E, so the change of use itself needs no permission. The consents you do need are for the compressor, the extract duct, the shopfront and the signage.
The sound insulation section of a noise impact assessment
The facade section of a noise report has to prove 35 dB LAeq in living rooms and 30 dB LAeq at night with the windows shut. Here is what the calculation needs and where these sections usually fail.
Outline planning application checklist: matters to reserve
Access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale are the five matters you can reserve. Which you hold over decides what you must draw now, what conditions you get, and how much flexibility the permission keeps.
The sustainable drainage hierarchy in London
Each step above your chosen drainage solution has to be rejected on evidence. The London hierarchy in order, and the five things a borough officer checks.
A worked example of a drainage hierarchy decision
An illustrative infiltration test calculation, the evidence needed to rule infiltration out, and the record a lead local flood authority expects on a small site.
The construction phase section of an air quality assessment
Risk categories, receptor distances, plant emission standards and monitoring. What the construction section of an air quality assessment has to show, and how templates give themselves away.
Air Quality Neutral and Air Quality Positive explained
One is a benchmark calculation, the other a design process for large schemes. What each requires, what evidence boroughs expect and where assessments fail.
A checklist before submitting a prior approval application
Prior approval confirms specified matters for development already permitted by the Order. Here is what to establish before submitting, and how deemed consent works.
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